AFL Draft news 2022: All the stories, latest information and analysis in the lead-up to the national draft

It was the final round of 2013 and James Hird had just copped a 12-month ban over the supplement saga. But one canny move that day is about to provide a silver lining for Essendon.

Cadman’s ready to ditch the tools for the Sherrin. Picture: Michael Klein

Essendon fans should be raising a glass to Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin this week.

Goodwin served as caretaker coach of the Bombers for only a single game in round 23, 2013 – after James Hird received a 12-month suspension as part of the club’s supplements saga.

But that one game looks set to have a major lasting impact on the club as it delivers Essendon two highly-talented players in this week’s AFL national draft.

Bombers small forward Alwyn Davey had a beat-up body and had logged just four disposals and kicked one behind against Carlton the previous week.

However, Goodwin backed in the man nicknamed ‘Froggy’ at the selection table to play his 100th and final AFL game.

Alwyn Jr and Jayden Davey are on the cusp of becoming the first set of twins to be picked up as father-sons in this year’s draft. Picture: David Geraghty

“My body was shutting down a little bit and a lot of injuries were starting to come,” Alwyn Sr recalled this week.

“It was good to get to 100 games, but it took a toll.”

Alwyn Sr ran out onto the field for his milestone match against Richmond that night alongside his four sons – Alwyn Jr, Jayden, Alijah and Cruz.

The eldest two – twins Alwyn Jr and Jayden – were both just nine years old, but were firmly in Alwyn Sr’s mind as he limped to his 100th game.

Reaching the milestone meant all four of his sons qualified to be father-son selections for Essendon.

“That was always in my mind, that if I got to 100 games the boys’ dream to play AFL for Essendon could come true,” Alwyn Sr said.

Simon Goodwin in his role as Essendon caretaker coach against Richmond in 2013.

“But at the end of the day it came down to the boys and if they really wanted to push themselves to play AFL. They did and now they’ve set themselves up for a great opportunity in the future.”

Nine years on, Alwyn Jr and Jayden have nominated for the Bombers in this year’s draft, having developed into exciting and talented young footballers.

“They are super excited,” Alwyn Sr said.

“I always loved the club and I’ve got a soft spot for them still so if the boys get there it will be a very proud moment.”

CHASING THE DREAM

Alwyn Jr and Jayden attended Essendon Primary School, just across the road from the Bombers’ former headquarters at Windy Hill.

After school they would join their dad and his teammates as they did some extra training on the track or lifted some weights in the gym.

“We always tried to find a gap between the door and try and use it as goals and kick the ball around,” Alwyn Jr said.

“We’d have little competitions and fight among each other and stuff as well.

“We’d also get along with dad’s teammates at the time. Jayden and I really looked up to Dustin Fletcher. He was a really good player and very nice to us boys. Tayte Pears, who was dad’s teammate for a while, was really nice too which we liked.”

When Alwyn Sr’s career at Essendon came to an end, the family moved back to Darwin and linked up with local club Palmerston Magpies.

But for the past four years, Alwyn Jr and Jayden have been back in Melbourne finishing their schooling at Xavier College and playing NAB League football with the Oakleigh Chargers.

“Jayden is quicker off the mark than Alwyn and he loves kicking goals,” Alwyn Sr said.

“Alwyn is the one who likes to set up goals a fair bit. He hasn’t got the explosive speed like Jayden but he’ll pick it up over long distance. They’ve both got different attributes, which is a good thing.”

Alwyn Jr, who has taken on the nickname ‘Tadpole’ after his father, likens himself more to his uncle in former Melbourne midfielder-forward Aaron Davey.

“I’m more a bit of Aaron, being more calm and composed and just doing the stuff that helps the team out,” Alwyn Jr said.

“Jayden is probably the replica of dad. He uses his speed to pressure and tackle and kick goals.”

Alwyn Davey and his twin sons Alwyn Jr (right) and Jayden. Picture: Glenn Campbell

BETTS CONNECTION

Alwyn Sr played alongside Eddie Betts in the Australian indigenous squad for an international rules series against Ireland in 2013 and the pair struck up a friendship.

Since his AFL retirement, Betts has played some games for Alwyn Sr’s Palmerston Magpies in the Northern Territory Football League and that friendship has drawn even closer.

“We spend a bit of time together and we’re pretty close,” Alwyn Sr said.

Betts has helped Alwyn Jr and Jayden along the journey and when Alwyn Jr finished school earlier this month he went to live with the Betts family in Melbourne for a week.

“I do look up to Eddie and he has given me some tips about kicking snaps and stuff like that,” Alwyn Jr said.

“But also his attitude off the field and what he brings to the indigenous community is really special.”

WHERE THE BIDS WILL COME

The Davey family will be together watching the AFL draft from the function room at the Palmerston Magpies this week, along with some other close family and friends.

Alwyn Jr is considered to be a top-20 talent, which could see him attract a late first-round or early second-round bid.

Jayden is expected to be a later selection in the draft, having missed this year with an ACL injury.

“We’re very fortunate that dad did push to the 100 games,” Alwyn Jr said.

“It makes the whole thing a bit easier and dad is very happy about it.

“If we both get to Essendon together it will be a dream come true.”

Next Cameron? Cadman following in Jezza’s footsteps

At the start of last football season, Aaron Cadman looked destined to spend the next two years finishing his electrical apprenticeship with the family business.

As a bottom-age player with the Greater Western Victoria Rebels last year, the boy from Darley featured in five NAB League games in 2021 as an unremarkable tall and skinny wingman.

“He looked a nice type but just didn’t get a lot of the ball at that point,” veteran AFL talent ambassador Kevin Sheehan said.

Left out of the initial Vic Country squad, Cadman was a long way off the radar of AFL recruiters.

But having grown and added some weight to his frame over summer, Rebels coach David Loader decided to redeploy him as a lead-up key forward this year.

Cadman has been balancing football with work as an electrician for his family company this year. Picture: Michael Klein

In round 1 against the Bendigo Pioneers Cadman kicked 4.3 from 15 disposals and seven marks.

Four games into the season he was not only in the Vic Country squad but was also added to the AFL Academy squad.

“When he wasn’t in the Vic Country squad, we started talking about how we could get him into that,” GWV Rebels coach David Loader said.

“Then when he was considered to be a draftable player, I said, ‘You’re pick 60 now, how do we make you 59 and then how do we make you 58?’ Once he got to about pick 30 in the eyes of some, he started coming back to me and saying, ‘How do we get me to 29?’”

After the first month of the season, Loader publicly put on the record that Cadman had “some similarities to a young Jeremy Cameron”.

Some scoffed at that suggestion, but Loader had worked with Cameron and knew what he saw.

“When we made the comparisons early in the year I said to Aaron, ‘It would be great for you to meet Jez’,” Loader said.

“We went down to Geelong and had a coffee with Jez. Jeremy is a superstar of a young man as well and they’re really similar with their outlook on life and how their head doesn’t change size. Jeremy’s probably the premier forward in the competition and you talk to Jez like he’s still working with cows out on the farm. He’s just so grounded.

“They’ve kept in touch and he’ll be a wonderful support for Aaron as they go forward.”

Cadman will lean on Cameron for advice as he begins his own quest for premiership glory. Picture: Getty Images

Cadman has since signed on with the same management firm as Cameron – Hemisphere Management Group – and the three-time All-Australian has continued to be a helpful mentor.

“I’ve had a couple of meetings with him (Cameron) just so I can pick his brain a little bit, just on his experiences and little tips and tricks on body position and all that,” Cadman said.

“He’s just an unreal person to be around. His perspective on life and footy is really cool to hear.

“Being fellow country boys and Rebels boys, I felt like we developed a good connection and a good relationship. It’s good to have him on my side.

“If I could do half of what Jeremy Cameron has done, I’d consider myself successful.”

A student of the game, Cadman has soaked up all the information he can to better himself this year, whether that be from Cameron or his coaches at the Rebels.

“There was nothing you couldn’t talk to him about,” Loader said.

“He never, ever took anything personally. We’d look at clips and vision and he’d learn from it and say, ‘We’ll put it into practice’.

“He always wanted to be the best he could be but it never came at the cost of anyone else. He’d have a game where he’d kick five goals and literally win the game off his own boot for you and we’d be watching vision in the review and the first thing he’d say was, ‘I should have given that handball there’ or ‘I should have looked at that option inside’. When you’ve got young men at 18 years old talking like that in front of the group, you just go, ‘Wow’.”

Cadman finished the season with 34 goals from 12 games for the Rebels to place fifth in the NAB League’s Morrish Medal count.

He booted 10 goals from four games for Vic Country at the under-18 national championships, where he also put his impressive work rate and strong marking abilities on display.

“I would have liked to kick a couple more if I could kick a bit straighter,” Cadman said.

“But overall I’m really happy with how everything went and I’m pretty proud of how far I’ve come.”

Aaron Cadman (L) celebrating a goal during the 2022 U18 Championships. Picture: Getty Images

Cadman finished work with his father and two brothers in the family business a fortnight ago, his electrical career being put on hold for now.

“I would be up at five o’clock every morning, sometimes 4.30am,” Cadman said.

“I dropped out of school after I finished Year 11. There was almost no point wasting time going into Year 12 when I knew I was going to be an electrician at the end of it anyway.

“It’s actually helped me a lot to get that life experience and just talking to adults has really helped my confidence.”

Cadman – who is tipped to join Greater Western Sydney with the No.1 pick in Monday night’s AFL national draft – made an appearance at Rebels training in Ballarat last week as pre-season began for the club’s crop of 2023 players.

“He turned up to training the other night and I said, ‘You realise if you go No.1 we’ve got nowhere else to go’,” Loader said, referencing Cadman’s desire to continually climb the draft order this year.

“If he goes to GWS, I think they’ve just got a star of a young man who is as solid as a rock.”

ASHCROFT HAS NO REGRETS IN TURNING BACK ON BEING NUMBER 1

Will Ashcroft sacrificed being the one pick in this year’s draft by nominating as a father son pick with Brisbane, but despite striving to be the best, he has no regrets.

Will Ashcroft doesn’t like to finish second.

A driven individual and footballer who will stop at nothing to get the best out of himself, he has long had one eye on being the No. 1 draft pick this year.

“It’s every kid’s dream to be that No. 1 pick as a junior,” Will said.

“That’s what you’re aspiring to be. I think if that was to come that it would be a credit to the work I have put in and how I’ve performed this year. But I don’t think it’s the be all and end all. Being at Brisbane is where I want to be.”

Will’s decision to nominate as a father-son to the Lions earlier this year is the only reason why he is not expected to be the first name read out in Monday night’s draft.

Will Ashcroft in action playing for Vic Metro in the National Under 18 championships. Picture: Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Had he stayed on the open market, the prolific ball-winning midfielder would have been the No. 1 pick for any club in the competition – just like Carlton’s Sam Walsh was in 2018.

Walsh came through the underage system at the same time Will’s father, Marcus, was working for the AFL as its National Talent Pathways Manager.

“Sam was just ultra-professional and did absolutely everything in his power to get the best out of himself,” Marcus said.

“I think that’s what Will does. He tries not to leave anything to chance. Credit to him, because the game’s never been harder. You need to control everything in your power and do the best you can. That’s exactly the way Sam prepared himself for every training session and every game. That’s the one trait that really stands out between those two.”

Will’s drive and desire to uproot his life in Melbourne and move back to Queensland comes from within.

A three-time premiership player with Brisbane, Marcus has tried to be anything but a pushy parent.

He did not spend endless hours trying to convince Will to follow in his footsteps and nominate as a father-son for the Lions, where he enjoyed a decorated 318-game career.

“That was left in his court mainly,” Marcus said.

Will’s dad Marcus Ashcroft played over 300 games for three premierships with the Lions.

“He’s been around footy clubs most of his life – Brisbane when he was really young when I had an off-field role there and then Gold Coast when I had an off-field role there. He’s a pretty level-headed young man and you let them make their own choices.

“I’m one of those dads that’s always caring and supportive, as is (Will’s mother) Bekky. But we let them make their own decisions.”

Will lived in Queensland until age 15, before moving to Melbourne and finishing his schooling at Brighton Grammar last year.

He has spent this year studying business and sports management at Deakin University, as well as working on a side project.

His own business – WASH Performance and Wellbeing – is set to launch with a website and social media accounts next Tuesday.

“The key pillars are around training and elite performance, nutrition, mental application, wellbeing, life balance and leadership,” Will said.

“I’m just coming out of the pathway and all the content is what I do and what makes me tick. It’s not necessarily a business early on, but more so a platform and a community where I can tell my story and people can take however much they want and apply that to themselves to get to their own goals.

“I want to give back a little bit of what I know now and what I’ll continue to learn over the journey.”

Will has already been completing a training program provided by Brisbane since he finished a season where he did it all.

The 18-year-old captained Vic Metro to victory in the under-18 national championships and took out the Larke Medal as the best and fairest player of the tournament.

He was best-on-ground for the Sandringham Dragons as he led them to the NAB League premiership and was named skipper of that competition’s Team of the Year.

There were also three impressive VFL appearances for the Lions, with Will polling the maximum three votes in the JJ Liston Trophy count as best afield in one of those games.

“I had a pretty good year individually but it is a credit to all the people that are around me and all my teammates,” Will said.

“There’s a list of people who have helped me get to where I am.

“I’m really looking forward to hopefully trying to come into the senior side (at Brisbane) straight away next year and playing and following after dad.”

Part of the decision making around nominating as a father-son for Brisbane surrounded the future of Will’s younger brother, Levi.

Will Ashcroft with his dad Marcus and brother Levi. Picture: Daniel Pockett/AFL Photos/via Getty Images)

He shapes as another highly-rated father-son prospect in two years’ time, paving the way for the two brothers to play together at AFL level – just as they did in six NAB League games for the Dragons this year.

“When you watch them play together, they’re so protective,” Marcus said.

“But in the backyard when they’re against each other, they’re the total opposite. I think that’s the benefit of being the younger brother. You have to step up or the game doesn’t go ahead and Levi certainly did that.”

Levi was an All-Australian as an under-16 this year and is already attracting plenty of attention from Brisbane.

“He’s his own man and he’ll go through the process like I did,” Will said.

“But I think if that did happen and he was to go down that path as well it would be a dream come true.”

Originally published as AFL Draft news 2022: All the stories, latest information and analysis in the lead-up to the national draft